Philadelphia, PA, Aug. 10, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The African Bicycle Contribution Foundation (ABCF), a Philadelphia-based, 501 (c)3 corporation which is committed to generating funding for the purchase and distribution of free bamboo bicycles to under-resourced students, small farmers and healthcare workers in rural Ghana, today announced that it has named Renee Chenault-Fattah, a veteran broadcast journalist and attorney, as a member of its board of directors.
Renee has anchored and reported for CBS, FOX, ABC, and PBS stations in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, and New Jersey. For 25 years, she was a main co-anchor, reporter, and legal correspondent for the NBC station in Philadelphia, where she also produced and anchored a weekly health program and hosted numerous arts and cultural programs.
Over the years, Renee has dedicated herself to speaking and engaging with civic, church, and educational institutions about the transformational power of education and the importance of opening opportunities for young people in the STEM fields. As a natural outgrowth of her passion around educational equity, she serves on the boards of Johns Hopkins University and Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. And, for 13 years, she served on the board of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Prior to television, Renee practiced commercial litigation at the Wall Street law firm of Hughes Hubbard & Reed and she clerked for the Hon. Damon J. Keith on the United States Court of Appeals for The Sixth Circuit.
Renee holds a masters degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, a law degree from The University of Pennsylvania School of Law, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Johns Hopkins University.
She is married to former U.S. Congressman Chaka Fattah and lives in Chestnut Hill with her two teenage daughters.
"The African Bicycle Contribution Foundation could not be more delighted that we have had the opportunity to add a communications and legal professional of Renee Chenault-Fattah's caliber to our board of directors," said Board Chair A. Bruce Crawley. "Her global perspective on the challenges facing young people, her high-level institutional governance experiences and powerful command of issues related to media are ideally suited to the challenges our internationally focused foundation has chosen, by mission, to address."
The current ABCF board is comprised of 14 business, professional, public-sector and civic leaders, including Daniel J. Hilferty, CEO, Independence Health Group; Hon. Karen Smith Woodson, magistrate judge, Fulton County Superior Court, in Atlanta; Todd MacKenzie, SVP, ARAMARK; Florence Torson-Hart, Senior Financial Advisor, Merrill Lynch and Joseph DiAngelo, dean, Ervian K. Haub School of Business, St. Joseph's University, among others. ABCF's executive director is Patricia Marshall Harris.
Incorporated in February 2016, and having made its first bicycle contributions in Ghana, in September of that year, the African Bicycle Contribution Foundation purchases branded "Eco-Ride" bamboo bicycles from the Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative (GBBI). The Kumasi, Ghana-based company employs a workforce of 57 persons, 18 of whom are directly involved in the manufacturing of the hand-made, durable, ecologically friendly bicycles. To date, ABCF has funded bicycle distributions in Accra, Kumasi, Koforidua, the Sekyere Afram Plains District, and in Central Ghana's Brong-Ahofo Region. ABCF's goal is to contribute 2500 free bikes across Ghana, over its first five years of operation.
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A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2b4cb06d-ed52-4513-8e9f-2c81eecad752
Attachments:
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fb527e5c-1712-481c-902f-2ad408894f02